$1 mil? $50k? How much would tunnel referendum cost?

There are dueling figures out there for how much a proposed August referendum for the tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct would cost.

Kim Van Ekstrom, spokeswoman for King County Elections, told seattlepi.com: “This is a situation where everyone could make a case of being close depending on when you asked them.”

She said the $1 million estimate was reasonable – if the tunnel referendum were to go forward with no other Seattle items on the ballot. But since there are other Seattle primary races on Aug. 16, the tunnel referendum cost would be “whatever the increased marginal cost of administering their part of the election turns out to be.”

“That additional cost could be very small (although not zero) if it only increases the voters pamphlet by another page, or it could be more if it creates the need for a longer sheet of special paper…so the estimate of $50,000 presents a reasonable contract to the ‘referendum only’ estimate of $1 million.

Van Ekstrom said her office would have firmer numbers after the May 24 deadline to get something on the August ballot.